Guru
Reference *KEYWORDS: Guru, Indian film, meaning, summary, review of, overview accomplishment, success, values, money, business Introduction Guru is a Hindi film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film was released on January 12, 2007, and premièred in Toronto, Canada. The movie is about a young man, from a small village in Gujarat, who dreams of making it big. The protagonist, Gurukant Desai , initially moves to Turkey, where he is successful, but wants to return to India. He then moves to Mumbai, India with his wife Sujata to fulfill his dreams. He soon finds out that the business community is a ruled by several influential and rich individuals, and realizes that any attempt to penetrate their ranks won’t be easy. He starts his own company Shakti Trading and climbs the ladder of success very rapidly. He experiences vast, unprecedented success through the positive side of his character, but is also nearly ruined through several darker elements of his personality. He finally is able to rally the nation to his side and prevails, creating the biggest company in Indian history. His goal at the end is to create the biggest company in the world. Guru has generally received good reviews. The New York Times called the film an "epic paean to can-do spirit." The New York Post gave it three out of four stars, and the Los Angeles Weekly called it the best Hindi film since Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. Time Magazine compared the film to Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and said that one of the main highlights of the film was its climax. He further noted "For movies to celebrate an entrepreneur is rare... Background Directed by Mani Ratnam, who penned the story and screenplay while Vijay Krishna Acharya wrote the Hindi dialogues. Guru has been described by Ratnam and others involved in the production as a film that is reflective of a man's desire for ambition and success, and how times have changed from the period immediately after the country's independence to the present. Some reports have speculated that the film is a biopic on the life of India's biggest petrochemicals tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani. Like Guru, Ambani also had roots in Gujarat as the son of a schoolteacher, went abroad to work for the gas company Shell, and returned to India to import polyester. There are also differences between the two stories. Ratnam has described Guru as inspired by stories both past and present. Guru was an amazing story of a man who succeeded in creating an empire. Synopsis In a small village of Idhar in Gujarat, a young man dreams of making it big some day. His father (Rajendra Gupta), the headmaster of the village school, tells him that dreams never come true. But Gurukant Desai (Abhishek Bachchan) never stopped dreaming. Set in 1951, Guru tells the story of a ruthlessly ambitious villager who moves to Turkey first and Mumbai later with his wife Sujata (Aishwarya Rai) and brother-in-law Jignesh (Arya Babbar) to fulfill his dreams. "Guru" tells the story of Gurukant Desai. In Mumbai, truth dawns upon Guru that the business world is a closed community ruled by a handful of rich and influential people who don't believe in giving opportunities to new players. Despite barriers, he starts a company called Shakti Trading and climbs the ladder of success at a furious pace. Manik Dasgupta aka Nanaji (Mithun Chakraborty), who publishes a newspaper Swatantra, treats Guru as his son.Gurukant Desai smuggles in parts for polyester mills and illegally creates goods to make a higher profit. But when Manik Dasgupta learns that Guru's means to make it big are not right, he along with a reporter of his newspaper, Shyam (R. Madhavan|Madhavan), decide to expose Guru's unjust ways. Characters Below is a vignette of each character in the film : * Gurukant Desai - Guru Kant Desai, simply called as Guru, belonged to a small village called Idhar situated in Gujarat. Coming from a humble background which comprising a headmaster father, he was always taught to be content with what one has got rather than aspiring for something that may not be achievable by any means, whether it is materialistic or non-materialistic. But Guru had different plans. He wanted it all. So whether it was dreams, house or a village to live in, Guru always dreamt of something bigger. And all this since he was confident that he had it in him to achieve that, especially with a belief that he was the one who would be writing his own destiny. And soon a simple villager was en route to be one of the biggest visionary ever. * Sujata - Sujata was at one point of time, hesitant to marry Guru but it was a matter of time when she fell in love with him after being together as a couple in a one-room chawl. Her relationship with him became so strong over the years that regardless of what others had to say about him, for her Guru was the one who stood for love. In the end, she was his pillar of strength, providing him utmost support and courage to face life. * Manik Dasgupta (Nanaji) - Nananji ran a newspaper called Swathantra and years back was pretty impressed with the kind of fire that he could feel within Guru. He knew that Guru was a young lad who had it in him to be successful and though his walk towards his destination seemed too fast, he attributed it to his young blood. He was warned about some of Guru's so-called evil ways but for Nananji, Guru was spotless until he realized the truth. And now he wanted to fight to bring it to fore for all to see. Even if it threatens to destroy Guru or even himself. * Shyam Saxena - The same realization that had struck Nanaji struck Shyam too who didn't really have much love lost for Guru due to the way he worked and wanted him to be punished for his unethical and materialistic ways and along with Nanaji, he began publishing exposé's on Guru, revealing the truth behind the success of his business. According to Shyam, Guru had flirted with the law and the lawmakers, doing anything and everything to enhance his business, even if it did cross the law. * Meenu - Meenu is a young woman who limped, due to suffering from multiple sclerosis, and is wheelchair-bound. From her childhood, she had been extremely attached to Guru. Although Nanaji and Shyam were always being critical of him, questioning his ways, for Meenu, he was the man to be respected and admired since he was the only one who never asked her about her handicap and loved her unconditionally. Commentary Overview *The film is filled with the keys to great accomplishment in life including the protagonist's confidence, can do spirit, individuality, energy, vision, will, determination, hard work, psychological strength, positive attitude, cleverness, resourcefulness, goodness, right manners, and many others. *It also shows the same overlapping and other ingredients that go into making a person a change-maker and pioneer in society. *It also points out several weaknesses of character, including self-absorption and ego, ignorance, arrogance, deviousness, dishonesty, bribery, and others. *It also shows how the social power is accepting if it is arising out of misery. In a modern western economy, many of the things that are tolerated here would never be so. Detailed Commentary *The film begins at the end of the story with an older Guru apparently alone with the city behind him. He speaks of his achievements. (At the end, the same scene will repeat, yet we will see that he was actually speaking to the masses of people in his global company.) *We return to the beginning and see a small Gujarat village (in India). *Before his family, Guru says he has failed at math in school; and that he will go abroad to work. His father angrily says that he cannot bear his son failing in school (and going abroad as a result), for after all he is himself a teacher. *Guru goes to Istanbul. He writes his stepmother that she can come there too. Guru is happy that he is free from his father, including his cane and his school. *Guru gets a job selling petrol cans. *He goes up to a street peddler who is offering bets on 3 ball. He shows great cleverness by seeing which glass the ball is hidden under from amongst the three. He is not afraid to risk all his money; and thereafter wins a big pot. (He is a risk taker) ' *He visits the spice commodity traders. *Guru is unhappy with the limits of his work. '''He seeks more. ' He aspires to be in the commodity trading itself at the hall. '''He is ambitions. *Guru has now worked for the oil company for 7 years, and is offered a sales supervisor position. He is handed a contract. He says that he does not want the promotion because he wants to return to his village in India, and work for himself, rather than the white man. ' (It shows his entrepreneurial, independent spirit.) ' *He is told that he will never succeed by turning down the contract. Guru tells him that it is his destiny to succeed. ' (It is a deep belief in his own capacity to determine his life.) ' *His follow workers have a deep respect and affection for him. ' (People really like him.) ' *He leaves Turkey for India. *Sujata, Guru’s future wife lives in a beautiful village in India. She is seen being very happy and dances and sings through the countryside (in the Bollywood tradition). She writes her father that she is leaving the village to be free like others in the country, and will elope with a man. (Her leaving her family is parallel to Guru doing the same 7 years earlier.) However, when she sneaks away and arrives at the train station, her lover does not show up. A letter arrives from her boy friend that he cannot abandon his current life. She is devastated. Yet she continues on her journey, showing her independent spirit, and pushing away the pain. This will be significant as events unfold. *'It is very brave of Sujata to go on this way. Life will reward her by her meeting Guru on the train. (It is life response due to one’s seeking one’s own way. It is the power of intention. It also parallels Guru who is seeking his own independence. The confluence of their energies cause them to align and meet.) ' * Sujata thus has hopped on the train just before her family can stop her. When she tries to sit down, she sits on Guru by mistake, and they are both startled. So begins their life long relationship. She then sits down next to Guru, and shows her great sadness due to the fact that her lover did not join her in her escape from her village. She reads the note that informed her that her lover would not come. She drops the note and Guru picks it up. He tells her to throw it away (meaning forget the past. Just as he is doing.) *Guru gets off at his station, leaving S behind. A man her inquires of Guru of Sujata’s whereabouts, and Guru tells him she is on the train. *Guru arrives back at his village and reunites with his family. The people are so happy he has returned. They have great affection for him. (Just as the people at the oil company in Turkey did.) *Guru’s father advices him to be generous and give an old friend some money who is in need of it. ' (Guru has learned to be generous from his father.) ' *Guru’s father tries to impress him how big and successful his school has gotten. ' (Though Guru will reject being involved in the school as a career, he will acquire that same desire for success as his father in an utterly different field of work. Perhaps it is Guru’s genetic inheritance to be this way.) ' Back to Films for review Category:Life in Movies Category:Accomplishment